10.06.13
Minimum earning requirements ‘causing anguish’
New migration rules are “tearing British families apart”, the all-party parliamentary group on migration has said.
In a new report, the group of MPs described how new minimum earning requirements, introduced last July, were causing partners and sometimes children to be separated from the rest of their family.
Any British citizen who wants to sponsor their non-European spouse’s visa needs to earn at least £18,600 a year, or £22,400 to sponsor a child. Research shows that last year 47% of the UK working population would fail to meet this level, and Government statistics show 18,000 people will be separated every year.
The group is calling for an independent review of the minimum income requirement.
Baroness Hamwee, chair of the inquiry and Liberal Democrat home affairs lead in the House of Lords, said: “These rules are causing anguish for families and, counter to their original objectives, may actually be costing the public purse.”
But a Home Office spokesperson said: “High-value migrants would not be refused because their British spouse or partner was not employed.
“They can meet the income threshold by having cash savings of £62,500 or through their own private income, for example from investments. We have also introduced greater flexibility for those holding investments to liquidate them into cash in order to meet the rules.”
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